PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

 
 

NJPW “NEW BEGINNING: NIIGATA” COVERAGE- NEW INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION & NEVER OPENWEIGHT SIX MAN TAG CHAMPIONS ARE CROWNED

By David Tees on 2016-02-14 07:04:00

Welcome to the PWInsiderXtra.com live coverage of New Japan Pro Wrestling “New Beginning: Niigata”, live from the Niigata Prefecture Gymnasium in Niigata, Japan.

Match #1 - Six Man Tag Team Match

Jushin “Thunder” Liger, Tiger Mask IV & Captain New Japan vs. Bullet Club (Cody Hall, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)

The match kicks off with Liger tripping up Matt and he immediately applies a surfboard stretch, Liger releases that to set up for another submission and Hall interferes. Nick tags in and Liger works over his arm, Mask IV tags in and he resumes the punishment on Nicks arm. Liger tags back in and he wrenches on the arm of Nick, Mask IV tags back in again and the focus remains on Nicks arm. Hall interferes again and Mask IV sends both Bucks into him, Mask IV then back body drops Nick out of the ring and onto his teammates. Mask IV works over Nick in the corner before Matt interferes by super kicking him, Mask IV fights back against both Bucks and he nails Nick with a Tiger Driver.

Captain gets the tag and he nails Hall with an uppercut, Hall then crushes Captain with a springboard axe handle drop. Hall follows that up by nailing Captain with an exploder suplex for the near fall, the Bucks interfere and knock Mask IV and Liger off the ring apron. Captain fights back against Bullet Club until he is hit with a triple team maneuver, Captain hits Matt with a uranage after Liger interferes. Captain misses a top rope splash and Hall tags back in, Bullet Club hit Captain with a triple team Meltzer Driver for the three count.

Winners: Bullet Club

Match #2 - Tag Team Match

ReDragon (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs. Chaos (Kazushi Sakuraba & Gedo)

This bout kicks off with Fish using his strength to back Gedo into the ropes, Gedo gets Fish down with a headlock. Fish eventually breaks free and he applies an ankle lock to Gedo after a series of reversals, Gedo gets to the ropes and he tags in Sakuraba at the request of Fish. Sakuraba locks up with Fish and he brings him to the ground and applies the arm bar, O’Reilly quickly interferes to break the arm bar up. O’Reilly tags in and he gets into a grappling exchange with Sakuraba with nobody gaining a clear advantage, a second exchange happens and Sakuraba catches O’Reilly in a reverse triangle choke and then a leg lock. The two stand up and Sakuraba quickly drops to catch O’Reilly in the leg lock again and O’Reilly gets to the ropes to break it up, Gedo tags in and he stomps on O’Reilly.

O’Reilly fights back with forearm strikes and Gedo makes him pay by landing a finger to the eye, O’Reilly eventually gets the tag to Fish and they hit Gedo with a top rope knee drop and Chasing The Dragon for the three count.

Winners: ReDragon

Match #3 - Eight Man Tag Team Match

Hiroshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Matt Sydal & Ricochet vs. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, David Finlay & Ryusuke Taguchi

This contest starts off with Tenzan and Nakanishi going through a test of strength, Tenzan is then challenged to attack Nakanishi with shoulder tackles and he fails to drop him. Tenzan decides to attack Nakanishi with chops until he goes to the ground, Nakanishi trips up Tenzan to drop him. Tenzan gets up and he is quickly dropped again by a Nakanishi clothesline, Tenzan eventually drops Nakanishi again after landing a spin kick to his head. Kojima comes in and he teams with Tenzan to double team Nakanishi for a two count, Taguchi and Sydal tag in for their respective teams. Taguchi attacks Sydal and Ricochet with hip attacks, but then the junior tag champs take him down and nail him with a shooting star press/moonsault combination. Kojima tags in and he assaults Taguchi with strikes and chops in the corner, Kojima then hits Taguchi with his patented chop attack and a lariat in the corner.

Kojima then makes his way to the top rope to catch Taguchi with a top rope elbow drop for a near fall, Kojima goes for the lariat and Taguchi drops him with a pair of hip attacks. Nagata tags in and he attacks Kojima with a variety of kicks, Kojima eventually fights back by catching Nagata with a suplex. Kojima goes for the lariat and Nagata counters by applying the arm bar, Nakanishi tries to stop the other team from interefring and he fails after a short time. Kojima and Nagata stand in the middle of the ring to exchange forearm strikes, Kojima then hits Nagata with a lariat after eating an exploder suplex. Ricochet and Finlay get the tag, Finlay gets a near fall on Ricochet after landing some European uppercuts. Sydal comes in and he teams with Ricochet to double kick Finlay in the head for a near fall, everybody starts brawling all around the ringside area. Ricochet hits Finlay with a shooting star press to get the three count.

Winners: Satoshi Kojima, Hiroshi Tenzan, Ricochet & Matt Sydal

Match #4 - Tag Team Match

Michael Elgin & Jay White vs. Los Ingobernables (Evil & Tetsuya Naito)

This match begins with White and Naito facing off before Niato tags Evil in, Naito then jumps White from behind and Evil brings Elgin in. Elgin knocks both opponents to the arena floor, Elgin then back body drops White out of the ring onto both opponents. White brings Evil back into the ring to attack him with chops and forearm strikes, Naito interferes again to bring White out of the ring and toss him into the barricade. Evil and Elgin battle outside of the ring as well, Naito then brings White down the aisle way to slam him on the arena floor. Naito brings White back into the ring to attack him with a rope assisted drop kick, Evil tags back in and he crushes White with a senton.

Naito comes back in with a tag and he continues punishing White, White eventually fights back by nailing a charging Naito with a drop kick. Elgin gets the tag and he nails Naito with an overhead release suplex, Elgin then hits Naito with a flying clothesline and German suplex. Elgin then knocks Evil off the ring apron and takes him out with a cannonball dive, Elgin then hits Naito with a swanton bomb for a near fall. Naito escapes a power bomb attempt and Elgin crushes him with a forearm strike, Naito is eventually able to ground Elgin with a springboard tornado DDT. Evil tags back in and he eats an inzaguri from Elgin, Elgin then hits Evil with an exploder suplex before tagging White in.

White comes in and attacks Evil with a bunch of forearm strikes that are followed by a suplex, White then hits Evil with a missile drop kick for a near fall. Elgin comes back in and Evil hits White with a flying clothesline, Evil and Naito then hit Elgin with their finisher. Evil follows that up hitting White with a lariat and an STO for the three count.

Winners: Los Ingobernables

After the match, Los Ingobernables attack some of the young boys at ringside and then Jay White as well, Naito then attacks the referee for no reason as well.

Match #5 - NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Title Match

Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Toma Tonga & Yujiro Takahashi) (Champions) vs. Toru Yano & The Briscoe Brothers (Mark & Jay)

This bout starts off with an out all brawl between all six competitors that spills outside the ring as well, Jay eventually clotheslines himself and Tonga out of the ring. The Briscoes then take out two members of Bullet Club with suicide dives, Jay and Tonga are the legal men when the brawl stops. Jay then attacks Tonga with some European uppercuts before tagging Yano in, Tonga then chases Yano around the ring. Yano then unties the turnbuckle pad as the referee argue with Tonga, Tonga eventually gets a hold of Yano to nail him with a drop kick. Another six way brawl erupts outside the ring for a short time, Fale tags in and he works over Yano in the corner. Fale eventually slams and sits on Yano to get a near fall, Takahashi tags in and he cracks a seated Yano with a running drop kick.

Takahashi gets a two count on Yano and proceeds to choke him after the pin attempt, Tonga tags back in and he continues punishing Yano. Yano eventually gets the tag after taking Tonga down with a hair pull, Jay is the one he tags and Jay works over Tonga with a neck breaker. Mark tags in and he catches Tonga with a flying knee drop, Takahashi interferes and Mark uses redneck kung fu to scare him out of the ring. Mark places Tonga on the top rope and Tonga fights to get off, Tonga then hits Mark with a flapjack before some tags are made. Yano and Takahashi fight in the ring while everybody else battles on the arena floor, Takahashi tries to low blow Yano after Fale interferes and the referee stops him. All three members of Bullet Club try attacking Yano and the Briscoes get them out of the ring. Yano low blows Takahashi and rolls him up for the three count.

Winners: Toru Yano & The Briscoe Brothers, your new NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions

Match #6 - Six Man Tag Team Match

Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata & Juice Robinson vs. Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Yoshi-Hashi & Tomoro Ishii)

The bout starts off with Goto backing Okada into the ropes and releasing him, Okada does the same to Goto while taunting him as well. Goto then attacks Okada with a series of forearm strikes, Okada recovers by dropping Goto with a European uppercut and Goto retreats to the arena floor. Goto returns to the ring and he eats a big boot from Okada, Shibata and Ishii both get tags from their respective partners. Shibata lands a snap mare on Ishii and then fails to connect with a kick, Ishii backs Shibata into the ropes before landing a chop. Ishii then gets challenged to chop Shibata and he obliges him, Yoshi-Hashi tags in as Shibata fights Ishii in the Chaos corner. Robinson gets the tag from Shibata and he immediately gets head locked by Yoshi-Hashi, Robinson then takes Yoshi-Hashi down with a series of arm drags.

Yoshi-Hashi quickly gains control by catching Robinson with a neck breaker, Robinson recovers quickly by popping Yoshi-Hashi with a series of jabs. Goto gets the tag and he works over the back of Yoshi-Hashi, Yoshi-Hashi fights back and he tags Okada back into the ring. Okada kicks away at Goto and Goto fights back until he gets hit with a flapjack, the remaining four competitors duke it out on the arena floor. Okada continues weakening Goto by locking him in the necktie submission, Yoshi-Hashi tags back in and he attacks Goto with forearm strikes. Goto gets angry and he assaults Yoshi-Hashi with forearm strikes as well, Yoshi-Hashi quickly fights back by draping Goto on the top rope and nailing him with a drop kick for a near fall. Ishii tags in and he kicks away at the head of Goto, Goto tries fighting back and Ishii flattens him with a forearm strike. All three members of Chaos attack Goto with a series of holds for a near fall, another brawl erupts outside the ring between some of the competitors as Ishii power bombs Goto.

Shibata eventually tags in and he cleans house on all three of his opponents, Ishii regains control by nailing Shibata with a ton of strikes in the corner. Shibata recovers quickly and he destroys Ishii with strikes in the corner as well, Shibata locks Ishii in the abdominal stretch until Yoshi-Hashi breaks it up. Ishii takes the opportunity to nail a distracted Shibata with a side suplex, Shibata and Ishii exchange strikes in the center of the ring. Shibata and Ishii both start going down from the other strikes, Okada tags in and he immediately goes to work on Shibata. Shibata then clobbers a charging Okada with a big boot to the face, Robinson tags in and he nails Okada with a side kick and running cannon ball in the corner. Robinson goes to the top rope and he hits Okada with a high cross body for a near fall, another brawl erupts outside the ring between some of the competitors. Robinson then connects with a frog splash on Okada for a two count, everybody from each team takes the other out inside the ring.

Okada finally catches Robinson with a modified back breaker and top rope elbow drop to slow his momentum, Goto attacks Okada before he can hit the Rainmaker. Okada then knocks Goto out of the ring with a drop kick, Okada hits Robinson with the Rain Maker for the three count.

Winners: Chaos

After the match, Okada offers Goto a handshake and Goto refuses, Okada gets on the microphone to address Goto as he exits the arena.

Match #7 - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match

Kushida (Champion) vs. Bushi

The bout begins with the competitors doing some chain wrestling, Bushi winds up getting control first until Kushida catches him in a headlock. Kushida controls the head of Bushi and gets the near fall after some scrambling from both men, the wrestlers go through some more holds and nobody is gaining a clear advantage. Bushi fakes a handshake on Kushida before raking his eyes, Kushida then hits a charging Bushi with an atomic drop that is followed by a pair of drop kicks. Kushida continues attacking Bushi as the other members on Los Ingobernables come to the ringside area, Bushi gains the edge after connecting with a missile drop kick on Kushida. Bushi ties up Kushida in the ropes before smashing him on the ring apron, Evil attacks Kushida outside on the ring with a pair of steel chairs.

Bushi lets the referee make his count and Kushida gets back in the ring with a few seconds to spare, Bushi then locks Kushida in a choke before nailing him with a DDT. Bushi then applies the STF submission hold to Kushida, Kushida finds a way to escape and he attacks Bushi with forearm strikes. Bushi slows Kushida down again by choking him with his shirt, Los Ingobernables interferes again as Bushi distracts the referee. Kushida regains control after dropping Bushi arm first on the top rope, Kushida then nails Bushi with a running clothesline. Kushida waits for Bushi to stand up before attacking him with a series of kicks and a handspring elbow strike, Bushi rolls out of the ring and Kushida catches him with a suicide dive.

Bushi tries to reenter the ring and Kushida cracks him with a drop kick, Kushida misses a moonsault and Bushi tries hitting him with a code breaker. Kushida then counters the code breaker and he locks Bushi in the arm bar, Naito interferes and Kushida nails him. Kushida also hits the referee and that allows Evil to interfere, but Kushida takes him out with a spin kick. Bushi then hits a leapingKushida with a code breaker and Kushida falls out of the ring, Bushi then attacks Kushida with a suicide dive before getting him back in the ring. Bushi then places Kushida on the top rope before catching him with a double stomp for a near fall, Bushi misses the next double stomp attempt and he nails Kushida with an inzaguri instead. Kushida pops right back up and he clobbers Bushi with a forearm strike, Kushida mounts Bushi and attacks him with a bunch of strikes.

Kushida then rips some of the mask of Bushi apart and the two angrily exchange forearm strikes, Kushida eventually drops Bushi with some chops and kicks. Kushida continues attacking the hurt arm of Bushi, Bushi is able to low blow and mist Kushida as the referee was distracted to get the near fall. Bushi then connects with a code breaker form the middle rope to get another near fall, Bushi goes to the top rope and Kushida catches him with a code breaker as he leaps. Kushida then nails a kneeling Bushi with a running kick to the face, Kushida was setting up for the next kick with Los Ingobernables interferes. The young boys help Kushida and take out Evil as Kushida takes out Naito, Kushida locks Bushi in the kimura and a tap out follows.

Winner: Kushida, still your IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion

Match #8 - IWGP Tag Team Title Match

Global Bash Heel (Togi Makabe & Tamoaki Homna) (Champions) vs. Bullet Club (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows)

This match starts off with an out brawl breaking out between all four competitors, Homna and Makabe knock Gallows out of the ring after throwing him into Anderson. Makabe follows Gallows to fight him outside of the ring, Homna stays in the ring and he drops Anderson with a clothesline. Homna misses a headbutt and then all four competitors brawl outside of the ring, Gallows tosses Makabe into the crowd before joining Anderson on the entrance ramp to attack Homna. Anderson then hits the extended arm of Homna with a flying knee strike, Homna beats the count back into the ring and Anderson makes him pay by working over his arm. Gallows tags in and he continues punishing the arm of Homna, Gallows attacks the hurt arm of Homna with a series of headbutts before tagging Anderson back in.

Anderson places Homna in the corner before booting him in the head a few times, Gallows tags back in and he stomps on a downed Homna. Gallows then decides to toss Homna outside of the ring so that Anderson can throw him into the ring post, Gallows grabs a chair and he nails Homna in the arm with it. Anderson keeps attacking Homna by throwing him into the barricade, Homna beats the count into the ring again and he tries attacking Gallows with chops to no avail. Homna tries tagging Makabe in and Anderson stops that by knocking Makabe off the ring apron, Homna counters a Gallows suplex into a suplex of his own. Homna eventually tags Makabe in and Makabe cleans house on his opponents, Makabe then connects with some running clotheslines before punching gallows in the corner. Homna comes back into the ring and he knocks Anderson out of it, Anderson quickly recovers to drag Homna back out of the ring.

Anderson and Homna get tags from their respective partners and they go at it in the ring, Homna then catches Anderson with a falling headbutt. Homna then connects with a blockbuster on Anderson for a near fall, Anderson and Homna exchange forearm strikes in the center of the ring. Anderson is then hit with a series of double team moves by Global Bash Heel, Gallows returns to the ring to stop his foes from hitting Anderson with their finisher. Anderson hits Homna with the Stun Gun to get a near fall, Gallows then takes out Makabe as Anderson hits Homna with a TKO for another near fall. Homna blocks another Stun Gun to hit Anderson with a leaping headbutt, Gallows returns to the ring and he hits Homna with a sit out power bomb.

Anderson then hits Hombna with a double underhook suplex for another near fall, Bullet Club go for the Magic Killer and Makabe breaks it up before getting knocked down by his opponents. Homna attacks both opponents with a diving headbutt before Makabe nails them both with clotheslines. Homna and Makabe hit Anderson with the Doomsday Headbutt, Makabe catches Anderson with a flying knee drop and Homna hits him with a diving headbutt to get the three count.

Winners: Global Bash Heel, still your IWGP Tag Team Champions

After the match, Toma Tonga grabs the microphone and he challenges Global Bash Heel for the IWGP Tag Team Championships, then says that his partner will be a brand new member of the Bullet Club that will be revealed in the future.

Main Event - IWGP Intercontinental Title Decision Match

Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

The main event begins with Omega and Tanahashi goes through a series of reversals, Tanahashi holds Omega in a headlock. Omega escapes and Tanahashi drops him with a shoulder tackle, Bullet Club tries interfering and Omega tells them to lay off before sending them to the locker room. Omega returns to the ring and he forces Tanahashi into the corner while raking his eyes, Omega then hits a charging Tanahashi with a boot to the face. Omega tries hitting Tanahashi with the Omega Driver and Tanahashi escapes, Tanahashi then plants Omega with a back body drop after landing a few punches. Tanahashi follows Omega into the corner before stomping on him, Tanahashi places Omega ion the top rope and then misses the running knee strike.

Omega capitalizes by smashing the arm of Tanahashi along the top rope, Omega starts stomping and kicking the downed Tanahashi. Tanahashi tries skinning the cat and Omega catches him in midair to hit him with a shoulder breaker, Tanahashi rolls out of the ring and Omega follows him out there to stretch the hurt arm along the barricade. Omega then takes the opportunity to toss Tanahashi into the barricade a few times, Tanahashi then connects with a boot to the face of a charging Omega. Omega regains control and he tries suplexing Tanahashi into the crowd, Omega eventually does so after weakening Tanahashi further. Omega then does a moonsault off of the guardrail and onto Tanahashi, Tanahashi barely beats the count into the ring as Omega drinks a bottle of water.

Omega rips the protective tape off of the shoulder of Tanahashi as he returned to the ring, Omega then starts to work over the other arm of Tanahashi as well. Omega then tortures both arms of Tanahashi with a modified rings of Saturn submission hold, Omega releases that hold in order to attack Tanahashi with a bunch of elbow strikes. Omega quickly returns to stretching the hurt arm of Tanahashi, Tanahashi tries fighting back and Omega locks him in a sleeper hold. Tanahashi eventually breaks free and he takes down Omega with some forearm strikes that are followed by a flying forearm, Tanahashi catches a kicking Omega with a dragon screw leg whip.

Tanahashi is quick to focus on the now injured leg of Omega, Omega looks for a dragon suplex and he opts to hit Tanahashi with a fame-asser instead. Omega quickly transitions into an arm bar on Tanahashi, Tanahashi eventually breaks the hold by reaching the ropes. Omega again works over the hurt arm ofTanahashi before landing a Finlay roll, Omega then catches Tanahashi with a moonsault from the second rope for a near fall. Omega sets up for another move and he releases it because his leg is to injured, Omega sets up for a power bomb and Tanahashi counters to send him to the arena floor. Tanahashi goes up to the top rope and he nails Omega with a frog splash dive on the arena floor, Tanahashi returns to the ring and he does a dragon screw leg whip on the rope to Omega as he tried to enter the ring.

Omega rakes the eyes on Tanahashi to ensure that he can get back into the ring, Tanahashi is quick to recover and he attacks Omega with some more dragon screw leg whips. Tanahashi locks Omega in the Texas Cloverleaf and Bullet Club interfere to break it up. The Young Bucks hit Tanahashi with the Meltzer Driver as Cody hall distracted the referee, Omega hits Tanahashi with the Styles Clash for a near fall. Omega misses the running knee and Tanahashi crushes him with an overhead release suplex, Omega attacks Tanahashi with strikes as they meet in the center of the ring and Tanahashi returns the favor as well. Omega then hits Tanahashi with a reverse hurricarana. Tanahashi then counters the Omega Driver with a reverse hurricarana of his own. Tanahashi connects with a straight jacket suplex on Omega for a two count, Tanahashi sets up for a frog splash and Bullet Club interferes.

Omega misses a garbage can throw and Bullet Club reenters the ring to continue attacking Tanahashi, Omega takes out the referee with the trash can. Michael Elgin hits the ring and he lays out the members of Bullet Club, Tanahashi then tosses a distracted Omega off of the top rope. Elgin is then seen carrying the Young Bucks to the backstage area, Tanahashi then hits Omega with a spinning neck breaker and sling blade for the two count. Tanahashi then hits Omega with a frog splash, but then he misses the next frog splash after Omega gets out of the way. Omega capitalizes after crushing Tanahashi with a pair of running knee strikes for a near fall, Omega then hits Tanahashi with another knee strike and the Omega Driver for the three count.

Winner: Kenny Omega, your new IWGP Intercontinental Champion

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!